Licensing for automation sessions

In automation sessions, multiple threads of the calling application can overlap. For example, a web application can call the SyteLine IDOWebService to query data to present. When making a call to the IDO Web Service, the web application supplies a specific user ID, password, and configuration. The web application can have multiple threads executing simultaneously, so it requires multiple SyteLine sessions.

Multi-session users are designed for use with automation sessions. They are defined in your license document and are created when the license document is applied. In general, multi-session users are not needed in a usage-tracking environment; however, see the information about the SL_Internal user in About the usage-tracking license.

Any user can make overlapping web service requests and still only consume one IDO license token, if the IDO Custom User session type is used. This session type is optionally available to sessions that are created during Mongoose REST, WebService, and IntegrationService calls.

Automation sessions can be established using the technologies and tools listed in this topic. Each of these options exposes the same underlying IDO Request interface, as described in the Mongoose document Integrating IDOs with External Applications. The licensing implications of these options vary, as described in this list:

  • SOAP WebService: These calls are synchronous, consuming a license token during the processing.
  • COM: These calls are synchronous, consuming a license token during the processing.
  • XML: SyteLine utility/web servers provide both synchronous and asynchronous URLs. The calling process must format an IDORequest XML document, and then decide whether to use the synchronous route or asynchronous route:
    • For the synchronous route, an automation session is established for the user specified in the XML. Usage-tracking starts when the automation session invokes an IDO. The Automation license module contains all the SyteLine IDOs plus customer-created ones. The synchronous route allows the calling application to receive the results of the request.
    • For the asynchronous route, although security is checked for the user specified in the XML, no licensing consumption occurs. The processing is performed by the framework service ReplQListener. XMLs processed this way require a valid user, but that user does not need to take licensing into account, only security.
  • Microsoft Outlook or Project add-in: Each user configures the add-in in Outlook or Project with a SyteLine user, password, and configuration. This user must be assigned the appropriate IDO permissions in SyteLine, as described in the Infor SyteLine Microsoft Office Integration User Guide. The user session consumes a license module only when the user accesses a SyteLine form, field/button, or IDO associated with that module.